I may have mentioned this before, but the 2018 Top Echelon National Convention is also our 30th Anniversary Convention. Top Echelon Network was officially founded on March 8, 1988. So this is our 30th anniversary year, and we plan to celebrate in a big way!

One of those ways is with the National Convention. However, I feel that it’s my duty to inform you that Early Bird Registration ends on Friday, February 16. That’s just a few days from now!

The End of Early Bird cometh . . .

That means if you sign up between now and Friday, you can take advantage of the special Early Bird rate of $346 per person. If you wait until after Friday, the price goes up to $475 per person. Why wait? Save $131 and take that money with you to Nashville.

Why Nashville? Because that’s the site of the National Convention, of course! Below is other important information regarding the event:

• The dates of the National Convention are Tuesday, April 24, and Wednesday, April 25.
• The site, as mentioned above, will be the Gaylord Opryland Resort & Convention Center.
  
• Our room rate for the Gaylord Opryland will be $199 per night.
• The speakers for the event are Greg Doersching of Bullseye Recruiting and Barb Bruno, CPC/CTS of Good as Gold Training.

We’re also pleased to announce that we have the descriptions for all of the sessions that Barb and Greg will be presenting in Nashville. The titles and descriptions of those sessions are below:

Powering Your Future (Bruno)

Learn Why the candidate shortage is a good thing and how current trends are in your favor! Topics addressed include the following:

• Current and rapidly changing trends
• Realistic Expectations
• Increase Urgency with Candidates and Clients
• Recruiting and Client Development Best Practices

— — —

Protect Yourself and Your Business (Bruno)

You are in business to generate profits and create the lifestyle you deserve. There is no better time than now to protect yourself and your business. Barb will discuss the following topics:

• Steps to protect yourself and your business.
• Conduct revenue modeling
• Create passive sources of income
• Impact of technology on recruiting

— — —

Oh, God . . . It’s Another Recruiting Firm (Doersching)

This is how we all feel prospect customers are going to react every time we call, and it’s an attitude that not only is self-defeating it’s also blatantly untrue! Join Greg Doersching as he walks you through a simple, proven strategy to help you get more business.

— — —

It’s Marriage Counseling (Doersching)

Our clients move too slow. They have unrealistic expectations. I can’t get a straight answer. We feel hurt, we feel unappreciated, and it’s amazing how badly most recruiters feel they are treated by their clients. In reality our relationships with clients are just like a marriage – it’s a two way street – with a lot of give and take, but most of all, it’s about MUTUAL RESPECT for the other partner. Join Greg Doersching, as he takes you through a series of steps to reconcile that broken relationship we have with our customers. You’ll get direct and time-tested tactics to help you heal the broken hearts your customers often cause.

— — —

Remember, you can register for the 2018 National Convention with a credit card in the Members’ Area. The convention represents a recruiter networking opportunity that can help you maximize your Network membership and grow your firm this year. You don’t know who you might meet, whose job orders you can work, and whose candidates you can place.

There are split placements waiting for you in Nashville. Sign up for the convention at the Early Bird rate, and we’ll see you there!

Are we promoting Top Echelon recruiter networking events this week in The Pinnacle Newsletter Blog? You’re darn right we are! After all, Early Bird Registration for the 2018 National Convention ends on Friday. (This is our 30th anniversary convention, after all. We even made a special website for it.)

So yes—we already have on blog post titled “10 Reasons Why You Should Attend Networking Events.” And we’re not done there. Oh, no . . . not by a long shot.

That’s because we recently posed a question in the Members’ Area in the form of a poll. As you might have already guessed, that poll question was related to attending Top Echelon events.

(Have we become that predictable? Is the excitement gone from the relationship? Don’t answer either of those questions.)

For those who have attended a TE convention, what’s the most valuable aspect of attending?

The choice of answers that we provided is listed below, along with the percentage of split network recruiters that selected each one:

• Meet existing trading partners — 22.3%
• Meeting potential new trading partners — 31.9%
• Swapping hot job orders and candidates — 2.1%
• Training by the featured speaker — 10.6%
• Sharing insights and advice with other recruiters — 33.0%

Valuable in the “eye of the beholder”

The results of this poll indicate a close, three-way race. Claiming first place was “Sharing insights and advice with other recruiters” at nearly a full third of the vote (33.0%).

Right behind that answer was “Meeting potential new trading partners” at 31.9%. That makes sense, since meeting potential new trading partners means potentially make new split placements. More partners, more placements, more checks to cash. Cha-ching!

Anyway, “Meeting existing trading partners” nabbed third place with 22.3% of the responses. This also makes sense, since many Network members make placements with their split recruiting partners without every actually meeting them face-to-face.

Events like the upcoming National Convention change that. They give recruiters the opportunity to meet one another and finally put faces to names.

Do you have names to which you would like to put faces? Then register for the National Convention! After you do that, get on the phone and convince your trading partners to register, as well.

It’s our 30th anniversary convention. We want to make this event memorable (for all the right reasons) and help our Network members make 2018 their best recruiting year ever!

One of the beauties of contract staffing is the opportunity to earn a conversion fee. You can earn this fee on top of your hourly recruiter income if your client decides to hire the contractor  on a direct basis.

To get that fee, you need to have a Conversion Fee Agreement in place from the start of the assignment. But how do you know when to include such an agreement in the client contract?

It is a good idea to have one in place for every contract placement you make. Even if an assignment is not considered to be “temp-to-direct,” there is always a chance that an offer of employment could eventually be made.

Conversion fee agreement samples

Although you may think there is NO chance of the client hiring a contractor direct, it’s better to protect yourself in advance than to be unprepared later if the time comes.  After all, you have nothing to lose by adding a Conversion Fee Agreement to your client contract, but you could lose thousands of dollars if you don’t!

Establishing this agreement is as easy as adding language to your contract with the client company. We have free Conversion Fee Agreement samples available if you are uncertain what language to include in the contract. (Call us for more information about these free sample agreements!) If you utilize a contract staffing back-office, they can do it for you.

For instance, Top Echelon Contracting’s Client Services Agreement (CSA) contains a standard non-compete clause that states the client cannot hire the contractor for a period of one year after the assignment has ended without the recruiter’s approval.

We can easily substitute your Conversion Fee Agreement in place of this non-compete clause. That way, the client will pay a conversion fee if they hire the candidate direct.

Remember, a contract staffing back-office should not take any portion of your fee, conversion or otherwise. They are also not under any obligation to invoice for the conversion fee or to assist with its collection.

Are YOU in need of contract staffing solutions or contract placement services?

Then download our Quick-Start Guide to Contract Staffing. Or request a demo with one of our contract staffing specialists.

You can can also call us at 888.627.3678. Start making contract placements and start making more money!